World Food Program Faces Scrutiny Over Fraud in Sudan (Reuters) 

As Sudan suffers an immense humanitarian crisis due to an ongoing internal conflict between the Army Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) has provided crucial aid to people displaced by the conflict. Yet its ability to continue this crucial work is now under threat because of allegations of illicit activities made against its top officials in that country. These developments have drawn the attention of humanitarian practitioners and diplomats—who also have concerns regarding WFP’s mismanagement and how it might have contributed to the failure to deliver enough aid in Sudan.  

For a group of self-described environmentalists, the roughly two dozen Azerbaijanis who suddenly assembled along the highway near the Armenian border in late 2022 looked like a pretty atypical lot. None of them appeared to have a background in any kind of green movement. Nor did any of them, clad in largely matching cold weather gear, attempt to explain how they could protest mining operations (their declared raison d’être) without encountering problems in a police state. Indeed, they remained unbothered even as their numbers swelled over the following weeks.

A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

What’s Next for the Teesta Water Disputes? (The Hindu) 

The recent political upheaval in Bangladesh which led to the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the return of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammed Yunus as leader of an interim government is not the only tumult in this nation. A worsening trend in weather events there has heightened Bangladesh’s exposure to climate shocks and allowed a dispute over the Teesta River to reemerge.

In the last months of 2023, 30 landfills caught fire in Indonesia, highlighting a dangerous health risk and a symptom of the country’s failing waste management system. Most of these landfills are overflowing open dump sites. Moreover, not all waste ends up here, as large amounts — particularly low-value plastics like sachets and pouches — are never collected. Indonesia ranks among the top 10 global plastic polluters. The country generates 7.8 million tons of plastic waste annually, 63% of which is mismanaged. Most of these mismanaged plastics are thrown into rivers, dump sites or burnt by individuals, releasing toxic substances into the air. 

Critical minerals—and the soaring demand for them—are a key challenge for policymakers and analysts around the world. The factors driving that demand, especially energy transition technologies like electric vehicle batteries, are usually the focus of discussion. But the story of critical minerals is two-sided; it features both demand and supply. 

A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

Mpox Outbreak a Global Health Emergency, Again (The Washington Post) 

Various rapidly spreading mpox strains in Central and East African countries have led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the viral infection as a global health emergency. More than 15,000 people have been infected this year alone, with over 500 deaths reported. Mpox is transmitted largely through exposure to infected animals, as well as via skin-to-skin or sexual contact, and it disproportionately affects heterosexuals and sex workers.

On October 27, 2010, after meeting with her Japanese counterpart, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed concerns over allegations of a Chinese ban on exports of Rare Earth Elements to Japan. “This served as a wakeup call,” she announced while advocating for “additional sources of supply.” Beijing’s alleged ban came after skirmishes in the disputed Senkaku Island waters. But apart from Japan, not many countries acted on the wake-up call.